Hose-reel.



PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

' E. GLIFR HOSE REEL.

APPLICATION FILBDJUNE 22, 1903.

NO MODEL.

INVENTOR Edward 670;?

ATTORNEY NITED STATES Patented August 2, 1904.

PATENT FFICE.

EDIVARD CLIFF, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T O CLIFF AND GILBERTCOMPANY, OF NElV YORK, Y.,

A CORPORATION OF N ElV YORK.

HOSE-REEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,170, dated August2, 1904.

Application filed June 22,1903.

To (all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD CLIFF, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hose-Reels, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in hose-reels, and particularly toimprovements to in hose-reels of the character employed in buildingshaving a fixed water-supply apparatus to which the hose-reel may bepermanently applied.

In the embodiment of my invention herein presented the reel proper ismounted upon a hollow valve-casing which is connected with thewater-supply pipe and upon which the reel may be freely revolved. Thehollow valvecasing is inclosed throughout its main portion by the hollowhub of the reel, and this hub intermediate the disks of the reel isprovided with a hose-attaching nozzle, to which one end of the hose isremovably connected and which communicates with the interior of thehollow 5 valve-casing.

In the preferred construction the hollow valve-casing is at its innerend provided with a valve-seat, and within the casing is provided a reci'irocating valve to engage said seat and cut off the water-supply fromthe hose or to be moved from said seat and permit the water to flowfreely to the hose. The reciprocating valve within the valve-casing isconnected with a threaded valve-stem which en- 3 5 gages the thread inthe bonnet of the valvecasing, and upon the outer threaded portion ofthis valve stem is provided an internallythreaded sleeve which keys withthe hub of a hand-wheel capable of engagement and rotation with the reeland which sleeve may during a portion of the unwinding of the hose fromthe reel travel outwardly on said stem without affecting the valve andthen during the latter portion of the unwinding of the hose 4 5 from thereel become locked with the valvestem, and actuate the latter to openthe valve, the said valve, while being an automatic valve, thus notopening until a definite length of hose has been unwound from the reel.

Serial No. IGZABZ. (N0 modelvalve reaching its full-open position theafore- 5 said sleeve will have passed entirely free of connection withthe reel, and hence any then further movement of the reel will notaffect the valve.

The present invention relates more espe cially to improvements upon thehose-reel described and claimed in Letters Patent of the United StatesNo. 643,712, granted February 20, 19-00, to Edward Cliff, and No.661,953, granted November 20, 1900, to Edward Cliif, and the saidinvention pertains to several novel features of arrangement, equipment,and construction rendering the hose-reel more efficient and convenientof operation, more durable and convenient of construction, and 5 lessliable to be injured or strained by any improper manipulation of itsparts.

The invention will be fully understood from thedetaileddescriptionhereinafter presented, reference being had to theaccompanying 7 drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, partlyin central vertical section, of a hose-reel and connected partsconstructed in accordance with and embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is avertical section of same, partly broken away, on the dotted line 2 2 ofFig. 1, the hand-wheel being omitted in Fig. 2 from the valve-stem. Fig.is an inner face view. partly broken away, of the hand-wheel detachedfrom the valve-stem. Fig. is a side elevation, partly in section andpartly broken away, of the aforesaid hand-wheel, this figure beingpresented more particularly to illustrate the hub of said wheel. Fig. 5is a detached sectional view 5 corresponding with Fig. 1 of the outerportion of the reel and its parts, this figure showing the sleeve on thevalve-stem in side elevation and by dotted lines indicating the outerposition ofsaidsleevc; and Fig. 6 is a detached 9 end view of thevalve-stem and the nut thereon.

In the drawings, 10 designates the usual water-supply pipe; 11, avalve-casing applied to the end of' said pipe in the usual manner andcomprising a horizontal cylindrical portion 12 and a vertical portion13; 14:, the honnet closing the outer end of the portion 12 of U on thel said valve-casin 15, a valve-stem carr in 1 b7 1 U the valve 16 withinthe portion 12 of the valvecasing and threaded to engage the internalthread; of a sleeve 17, extending inwardly from said bonnet; 18, thestem for a vertically-acting valve 19 within the portion 13 of saidvalve-casing; 20, the usual hand-lever by which the valve 19 is movedvertically and which at its outer end is pivoted in the upper end of acustomary link 21, which acts as a fulcrum for said lever; 22, the hubof the reel mounted upon the portion 12 of said valve-casing; 23, thedisks of the reel. which are connected together by bolts 24, upon whichthe hose may be wound in a well-known manner; 25, a nut rigidly securedupon the outer threaded end of the valve-stem 15; 26, aninternally-tln'eaded sleeve mounted. upon the outer threaded end of thevalve-stem 15 and adapted to travel intermediate the bonnet 14 and nut25, and 27 a hand-wheel whose hub 28 contains a polygonal bore adaptedto pass upon and engage the correspondinglyformed outer surfaces of thesleeve 26 and which hub is also adapted to be placed into lockingengagement with the outer disk 23, as hereinafter explained.

The horizontal portion 12 of the valve-casing 11 is formed with avalve-seat 29 for the valve 16 and is substantially inclosed by the hub22, which is adapted to turn thereon, said portion 12 constituting asupport and axis for the reel proper. The portion 12 of the valve-casingis formed with openings 30, through which the water at the proper timepasses into the annular chamber 31, intermediate said portion 12 and thehub 22 and communicating with the hose 32, which will have its inner endsecured to the hub 22 in a wellknown manner.

The hub 22 in the present instance is formed at its ends with theshoulders 33, which, as shown in Fig. 2, are polygonal in outline, the

flat surfaces of said shoulders 33 forming at their meeting-points theprojections 34, which I utilize in securing the disks 23 upon said hub22. The disks 23 are formed with hubs 35, from which radiate the spokes36,.and which hubs are mounted upon the shoulders 33 of the hub 22, sothat said disks and hub 22 may rotate together. The hubs 35 are recessedat 37, the recesses 37 being arranged to receive the projecting portions34 of the shoulders 33, as shown in Fig. 2, and to cooperate with saidprojections 34 in looking the disks 23 against rotation upon orindependently of the hub 22. In assembling the hub 22 and disks 23 theinner disk 23 is set upon the inner shoulder 33 from the outer edge ofthe latter, so that the projections 34 of said shoulder may set withinthe recesses 37 of said disk, and thereupon the outer disk 23 is setupon the outer shoulder 33 of the hub 22,. the projections 34 of thisouter shoulder 33 entering the recesses 37 of the said outer disk, andthereafter the bolts 24 are applied for tying the disks 23 together andbinding their hubs 35 against the shoulders 33 of the hub 22. Theshoulders 33, having the projections 34 cooperating with the recesses 37of the disks 23, aid materially in rendering the reel as a wholeextremely durable, and in addition the said features constitute a veryvsimple and inexpensive means for effectually locking the hub 22 anddisks 23 together. The recesses 37 are in line with the spokes 36 of thedisks 23, and this feature is important, because when the disks areplaced upon the shoulders 33 of the hub 22 the holes in said disks forthe bolts 24 will always be in proper alinement ready to receive saidbolts.

There is no new feature presented in this application in theconstruction, arrangement, or operation of the valve-stem 15, valve 16,nut 25, and sleeve 26, since all of these features just enumerated arefully disclosed in the aforesaid Letters Patent No. 661,953. Thehand-wheel 27 is employed to cooperate with the nut 25 and sleeve 26 inthe manner fully explained in the aforesaid Patent No. 661,953;

but in the present instance the hand-wheel 27 wheel 27 moving outwardlyfrom the bonnet 38 and leaving the reel free of said wheel, the sleeve26, and stem 15, said stem thus remaining unaffected by any motion whichmay be imparted to the reel. The means provided for effecting theautomatic outward travel of the wheel 27 during the rotation of the reelafter the valve 16 has become seated comprises in the preferredconstruction spirally-inclined flanges 39, extending inwardly, Fig. 2,around the hole 40, formed at the center of the bonnet 38 of the outerdisk 23, and spirally-inclined flanges 41, formed at the inner end ofthe hub 28 of the wheel 27, the flanges 41 being more fully illustratedin Figs. 3 and 4. The flanges 41 on the hub of the wheel 27 are undercutat their outer ends to form lips 42, as more clearly illustrated in Fig.4, and when the wheel 27 is applied to the bonnet 28 of the outer disk23 the said lips 42 will engage the under surface of the outer ends ofthe flanges 39 of said bonnet, and thereby serve to lock the wheel 27 tosaid bonnet, this interlocking engagement of the wheel 27 with thebonnet 38 continuing during the movement of the reel in a direction tounwind the hose therefrom, this direction of movement being indicated bythe arrow in Fig. 2, the reel then turning toward the left. Should,however, an attempt be made to turn the reel toward the right while thevalve 16 is in engagement with its seat-29 and the hub of the wheel 27is in engagement with the bonnet 38 of the outer disk 23, the motion ofthe reel will carry the inclined surfaces of the flanges 39 against thecorrespomling surfaces of the flanges a1 and force the wheel 27outwardly upon the sleeve 26 and from its engagement with the bonnet 38,the first movement of the reel carrying the outer ends of the flanges 39from under the lips 12 of the flanges 41 and then by a wedge actionmoving the wheel 27 directly outward upon the sleeve 26, thus freeingthe wheel 27 from the reel and allowing the latter to be turned as muchas desired without its movement at all affecting the valve-stem 15. Inthe construction shown in the aforesaid Letters Patent No. 661,953 thehandwheel 27 when at its inward position was, in effect, locked to thereel and subject to the reel. even after the valve 16 became seated, andthus in the construction shown in said patent the movement to the rightof the reel after the valve 16 had become seated would result in thehand-wheel 21' being turned with the reel and in straining or twistingoff the valve-stem 15. In the construction shown in the aforesaid PatentNo. 661,953 it was in' tended that the operator should after closing thevalve 16 withdraw the hand-wheel 2T outwardly from the reel beforewinding the hose upon the latter: but this was frequently forgotten orneglected, with the result that the pressure applied to the reel, thelatter acting as a long lever, would result in serious damage to thevalve-stem 15. A further disadvantage of the construction shown in theaforesaid Patent No. 661,953 and which is corrected by the presentinvention was that a workman fitting up a building and having to applythe reel to the w ater-suppl y pipe would while the handwheel 27 was inengagement with the reel and the valve 16 in engagement with its seatuse the disks of the reel instead of a wrench as a means for securingthe reel and its valve-casing upon said pipe, this operation notinjuring the reel while the valve-casing thereof was freely turning uponthe end of the water-supply pipe, but straining or breaking off thevalve-stem after the said valve-casing had reached home upon said pipe,and said workman would then give the reel a further wrench to finallyinsure the secure attachment of said valve-casing,

27 from the bonnet 38 of the outer disk 23.

In the present instance I employ two of the of the flanges 39 on thebonnet of the outer disk 23, so that the said hub may engage the saidbonnet at opposite points, but with less satisfaction. One flange 4:1and one flange 39 may be employed in lieu of the duplication of saidflanges.

In Fig. 1 I illustrate the parts of the reel and valve, with the valve16 in its closed position and the hand-wheel 27 in engagement with thereel, the sleeve 26 being then at its inward position. In the event of afire the attendant will grasp the usual nozzle (not shown) at the end ofthe hose and run with the same toward the fire, this act resulting inthe unwinding of the hose from the reel and the rotating of the lattertoward the left or in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2. Therotary motion of the reel is communicated to the hand-wheel 2'7 and bythe latter to the sleeve 26, the said sleeve 26 turning freely upon thevalve-stem 15 and traveling outwardly upon said stem and from within thehub 28 of the wheel 27, but not affecting or rotating said valve-stem 15until a given amount of the hose shall have been unwound from the reeland the said sleeve shall have passed into engagement with the nut 25,upon the happening of which the continued rotation of the reel, hand--wheel 27, and sleeve 26 will be imparted to the nut and through thelatter to the valve-stem 15 and valve 16, the latter being thus causedto travel outwardly from its seat to permit the water from thesupply-pipe to enter the chamber 31 intermediate the hub 22 and thesection 12 of the valve-casing. During the unwinding of the hose thevalve 16 will not therefore be opened until such time as the sleeve 26has traveled outwardly and passed into engagement with the nut 25. Thesleeve 26 will be of such predetermined length that when the valve 16has reached its open position said sleeve will have entirely left thehub of the wheel 27 and be free upon the stem 15, this construction andrelation of the parts being desirable, so that any movement of the reelafter the valve has become opened will not have any influence upon thevalve or its stem 15, the wheel 27 during any such further movement ofthe reel merely turning with the bonnet 38 free of the sleeve 26 andhaving no influence upon the latter. After the fire shall have beenextinguished the attendant will drop the hose and return to the reel,and he will first withdraw the wheel 27 from the bonnet 38 and. slide itoutwardly upon the sleeve 26 and nut 25, then together on the outer endof the stem 15, whereupon he will by manually turning the wheel 27 closethe valve 16, this occurring before the bub of the wheel 27 reaches theopening 40 in said bonnet 38. lVhen the hand-wheel 27 is in the outerposition just above described, with the valve 16 closed, the reel may berotated without affecting the valve, and at such time the hose will berewound upon the reel in the usual man- ITO IIS

ner. The attendant will then move the hub of the wheel 27 from off thenut 25 and permit said hub to engage the sleeve 26 only, whereupon hewill by spinning the wheel 27 around rotate the sleeve 26 upon butwithout affecting the valve-stem 15 until said sleeve has entered withinthe bonnet 38 and reached the outer portion of the valve-casing andbecome arrested thereby. The attendant will then move the inner flangedend of the hub 28 of the wheel 27 into engagement with the bonnet 38 ofthe outer disk 23, and the reel will then be in its former normalcondition (shown in Fig. 1) and prepared for any further emergency. Ifduring the closing of the valve 16 the attendant should haveinadvertently inserted the flanged end of the hub 28 into the bonnet 38and forgot to withdraw the same, the act of winding the hose upon thereel would result heretofore in damaging the stem 15, and in the presentconstruction should the attendant have thus carelessly left the hub 28in locking engagement with the bonnet 38 the movement of the reel wouldresult in the flanges 39 thereof ejecting the wheel 27 from itsengagement with said bonnet, thus avoiding injury to the valve-stem 15.During the unwinding of the hose the engagement of the wheel 27 with thereel is maintained; but upon any reverse rotation of said reel the wheel27 is forced outwardly therefrom by the cooperation of the spiralflanges 39 and 11, and this feature of the construction constitutes aportion of the present invention.

The horizontal tubular portion 12 of the valve-casing 11 serves as thesupport for the reel and is in one piece with the portion 13 of saidvalve-casing, and, as above described, within the said portion 13 ismounted a usual form of gate-valve 19, by which the water from thesupply-pipe 10 may be cut off from the hose or admitted thereto as maybe desired. The

valve 19 is to beoperated manually, and prior to unwinding the hose fromthe reel the said valve 19 will in case of a fire be opened upwardly, soas to permit the water to flow into the portion 12 of the valve-casingand thence into thehose. The valve 19, operating-lever 20, and link 21are well-known features and require no especial description. The valve19 may be raised and lowered by a usual handwheel and threaded stem orby any of the wellknown appliances for manually operating a valve. Sincethe portions 12 13 of the valvecasing 11 are in one integral piece, saidcasing is not only rendered durable, but contains no joints at whichleakage could occur, and, in addition, the device as awhole becomes oneselfcontained article capable of being readily handled and convenientlyapplied to position upon the supply-pipe 10. The invention is not ofcourse in every instance limited to the employment of the valve 19; butthis valve is desirable, because it helps to prevent the turning on ofthe water to the hose 32 by careless or idle persons whose curiositymight lead them to become interested in the reel, and when the valve 19is employed it will of course be opened immediately prior to theunwinding of the hose from the reel. The valve 19 is also useful forcutting off the water from the portion 12 of the valve-casing in anyinstances in which it might be desired to remove the reel, bonnet 1 1,and valve 16 without detaching the valve-casing 11 from the supply-pipe10.

What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The water-supply apparatus, and a valvecasing connected therewith,combined with the hose-reel mounted on said casing, the valve 16 forsaid casing, the valve-stem connected with said valve, the sleeve onsaid valve-stem and adapted to be moved outwardly thereon by theunwinding motion of the reel and to pass into locking engagement withsaid stem for opening said valve after the reel has completed a portionof its unwinding motion, the hand-wheel adapted to engage said sleeveand said reel and permit of the outward movement of said sleeve whileit, said hand-wheel, remains in engagement with said reel, and means forautomatically disengaging said hand-wheel from said reel upon thereverse rotation of the latter and while said valve 16 is seated, saidmeans comprising inclined surfaces on said hand-wheel and reel wherebywhen said reel is reversed its inclined surfaces will ride against thoseof said handwheel and push the latter outwardly from the reel;substantially as set forth.

2. The water-supply apparatus, and a valvecasing connected therewith,combined with the hose-reel mounted on said casing, the valvestemconnected with said valve, the sleeve on said valve-stem and adapted tobe moved outwardly thereon by the unwinding motion of the reel and topass into locking engagement with said stem for opening said valve afterthe reel has completed a portion of its unwinding IIO motion, thehand-wheel adapted to engage said sleeve and said reel and permit of theoutward movement of said sleeve while it, said hand-wheel, remainsinengagement with said reel, and inclined flanges respectively on saidhand-wheel and said reel for automatically effecting the disengagementof said wheel from said reel upon the reverse rotation of the latterwhen said valve 16 is seated; substantially as set forth.

3. The water-supply apparatus, and a valvecasing connectedtherewith,combined with the hose-reel mounted on said casing, the valve16 for said casing, the valve-stem connected with said valve, the sleeveon said valve-stem and adapted to be moved outwardly thereon by theunwinding motion of the reel and to pass into locking engagement withsaid stem for opening said valve after the reel has completed a portionof its unwinding motion, the

hand-wheel adapted to engage said sleeve and said reel and permit of theoutward movement of said sleeve while it, said hand-wheel, remainsinengagement with said reel, and the spiral inclined flanges 39, 1provided upon said wheel and reel, respectively. for effecting thedisengagement of said wheel from said reel when the latter is reversedwhile the valve 16 is seated; substantially as set forth.

a. The water-suppl y apparatus, and a valvecasing connectedtherewith,combined with the hose-reel mounted on said casing, the valve16 for said casing, the valve-stem connected with said valve, thehand-wheel mounted over said stem and adapted to be detach-ablyconnected with said reel, means for keying said wheel to said valve-stemso that said valve may be opened by the unwinding motion of said reel,and means for automatically disengaging said wheel from said reel uponthe reverse motion of the latter, said means comprising inclinedsurfaces on said hand-wheel and reel whereby when said reel is reversedits inclined surfaces will ride against those of said hand-wheel andpush the latter outwardly from the reel; substantially as set forth.

The water-suppl y apparatus, and a valvecasing connectedtherewith,combined with the hose-reel mounted on said casing, the valve16 for said casing, the valve-stem connected with said valve, thehand-wheel mounted over said stem and adapted to be detachably connectedwith said reel, means for keying said wheel to said valve-stem so thatsaid valve maybe opened by the unwinding motion of said reel, andinclined flanges on said handwheel and said reel respectively forautomatically effecting the disengagement of said wheel from said reelupon the reverse rotation of the latter; substantially as set forth.

6. The water-suppl y apparatus, and a valvecasing connectedtherewith,combined with the hose-reel mounted on said casing, the valve16 for said casing, the valve-stem connected with said valve, thehand-wheel mounted over said stem and adapted to be detaohably connectedwith said reel, means for keying said wheel to said valve-stem so thatsaid valve may be opened by the unwinding motion of said reel, and thespiral inclined flanges 39, 41 upon said wheel and reel respectively foretfeeting the disengagement of said wheel from said reel when the latteris reversed in motion; substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New 55 York and State of New York,this 19th day of June, A. D. 1903.

EDXVARD CLIFF.

Vitnesses:

CHAs. G. GILL, ARTHUR MARION.

Correction in Letters Patent Not 766,170

granted August 2, 1904, upon the application of Edw an improvement inHose-Reels, was erroneously Gilbert Company, Whereas said name It ishereby certified that the name of the assignee in Letters Patent No.766,170,

ard Cliff, of New York, N. Y., for written and printed Cliff and shouldhave been Written and printed Clifi and l Gm'bert Company; and thatthesaid Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein thatthe same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 23d day of August, A D., 1904.

[SEAL] E. B. MOORE,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

